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About Me

Welcome to the Ordinary to Extraordinary Classroom. Sit back, strap on your seat belt and join me on my roller coaster ride of ups and downs as a Special Education Teacher. Although I teach special education, my ideas and activities accommodate grades Pre-K through 1st/2nd. As we adventure together, I plan to share printables, stimulating activities, and hopefully fresh ideas with you.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

STUCK as in life zipping by while I watch & whine like a cry baby b*tch.

Daily, this nagging feeling gnaws at me. Telling me, I am meant for more than mediocrity. I dream of making huge life changes: moving to another state (preferably Cali), leaving my job, creating my own business, traveling abroad, etc. But alas, I ALWAYS fail to follow through.

On several occasions, I made half-ass attempts to get UNSTUCK. I even created a Pinterest board titled STUCK. From past experiences I learned, you can pin until your heart's content, but pinning quotes on Pinterest rarely helps improve a situation.

Last weekend after a "last straw single-girl dating moment" and a monumental meltdown, I asked myself, "How the hell did I end up here?" It was at that moment I decided, I need to tap into my inner badass and LIVE the life of badassness I am meant to live! Time to LEAVE this story and write a new one.

Easier said than done, right? One thing I do know, being stuck is easy. Getting UNSTUCK, therein lies the challenge. Stay tuned for my next post to find out how I plan start living the life of badassness I deserve.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Every morning I typically begin my day with a quick look through my Instagram feed. Yesterday while perusing, I ran across these Earth Day cookies posted by Jen Jones form Hello Literacy.

So...of course I texted my mom. And of course my mom activated her SuperMOM powers, and BOOM!! I picked up my Earth Day cookies on my way home from work. I may...or may not be a little spoiled. This may...or may not be the reason why I am single. Since tomorrow is a planned Mental Wellness Day for me, I gifted my students their Earth Day cookies to take home and enjoy.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Our campus celebrated the 100th day of school on Monday. Time seems to be flying by. I find it hard to believe the 100th day of school has already come & gone. And I find it even harder to believe...I survived yet another year without suffering a nervous breakdown or being escorted off campus by the school district police. HA! JK.

As my students counted down to the 100th day, their excitement & anticipation grew as we inched closer and closer to the BIG DAY! I planned many engaging 100 Day activities, which I intend to elaborate on in a future blog post. But for now, I wanted to share my bag topper I created.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Not only no...but HELL to the no. Do not feel obligated to add coworkers. Am I friends with coworkers? A few. A select few. A minuscule, micro, select few. And for some of my colleagues added, I customized my privacy settings to limit the amount of my personal life to be judged. For coworkers added, who initially appeared harmless, but later proved otherwise...DELETED!!

My advice...free of charge, refrain from adding colleagues altogether and here's why:1. People love to talk sh*t!People love to talk behind your back and smile in your face. I guess I missed Jesus' memo about job openings. Apparently someone granted my Facebook friends the authority to judge me, and I doubt that someone was Jesus. So...if you constantly publish posts highlighting drunken shenanigans or if you post plans of happy hour intoxication (every week or sometimes in my case, every day...JK), I guarantee your colleagues gather around the water cooler to judge & talk sh*t about your bouts with alcoholism. If you constantly publish posts regarding how much you HATE Monday and you'd rather be somewhere other than work, I guarantee some shady snitch is running to your supervisor to parade your post in your supervisor's face. #SNITCHESGETSTITCHES (LOL. JK)

2. People get offended by EVERYTHING!The one thing I will never understand...I offend you, but yet you continue to follow me on Facebook. Please explain the logic behind that. For some individuals, being offended is their job. Personally, I rarely discuss the following topics on Facebook: politics, child rearing, religion, sexual preference, etc. It boggles my mind how people get enraged over the most inconsequential topics that bear no relation to them. #getoveryourself So, if ( like me) you tend to post offensive material containing profane language, think twice before friending your "holier-than-thou-stick-up-the-a** coworker. 3. People really want to be friends...A Facebook friendship, does not equate a REAL friendship. On occasion, colleagues comment on my Facebook exploits and suggest we "hangout." Ummm...no thanks. I look like a "good time" on Facebook ( I really am. Like Kesha said, "The party don't start 'til I walk in."), but I keep my circle of acquaintances (or as I like to call them my Partners-In-Crime) small.

The invaluable free advice provided above stems form personal experience. You live and you learn. Whenever possible, I make every attempt to separate my professional and personal life. If I do decide to add colleagues on Facebook, I add them on a case-by-case basis. Word of advice, if you are "that teacher" who wants to be every one's friend & you accept friend request from colleagues because you don't want to hurt their feelings...grow a pair. Truth be told, I experience awkward moments with coworkers after I receive a request and ignore or decline it. I imagine my rejected colleague thinking, "Who does that biyotch think she is? I know she saw my friend request!" I did. I ignored it. #girlbyeBut like I tell my sons, everyone is not your friend.

"Everybody isn't your friend. Just because they hang around you and laugh with you doesn't mean they're for you. Just because they say they got got your back, doesn't mean they won't stab you in it. People pretend well. Jealousy sometimes doesn't live far. So know your circle. At the end of the day real situations expose fake people so pay attention." -Trent Shelton

If you feel the need to network with colleagues, I suggest LinkedIn. Are you friends with coworkers? Your boss?